Introducing the Visual Boxscore

I’ve always wanted to revolutionize the baseball box score to reveal more information at a glance.  Here’s a first stab, using an old box score from Game 3 of the 2009 ALDS between the Angels and Red Sox.  You’ll see a key in the lower left corner that explains everything.  I’m still missing a lot of information I’d like to convey (most notably the performance of the pitchers in the game).  And there are many aspects to this that I am not sure about.  Still, I’m interested in seeing if this is a promising start.

One litmus test is to ask “what information does this convey about what happened in the game?”  Here are a few:

For the Angels:

- After a slow start, Vlad Guerrero had a terrific game, getting on base 3 times and driving in 2.
- The Angels came to life in the 9th, putting 5 consecutive hitters on base and scoring 3 times.
- The middle of the Angels order was pretty productive, driving in 6 runs and generally wreaking havoc.
- Until the 9th, the Angels had only strung together consecutive hits once (in the 6th)
- 10 Angels batters stranded runners in scoring position.
- The Angels drove in 5 of their 7 runs without the benefit of an extra base hit

For the Red Sox:

- Lowell was on base 3 times and drove in 1.
- Drew had a mixed day.  He drove in 2, but also ended two innings.
- The Red Sox never got a lead off man on base in any inning.
- No Red Sox batter stranded a runner in scoring position.
- The Red Sox scored 5 of their 6 runs in the second time up against Scott Kazmir.
- The Red Sox drove in all 6 of their runs via extra base hits